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Hi...I'm Jack Pledger and am in my last year working for a US defense company. I retired from the Air Force (ours) in 1996 where I spent just under 30 years as a pilot, commander and acquisition program manager. My hobby has always been antique and collector car restoration. I currently have a Kaiser Darrin and my father's 64 Mustang convertible under restoration. I like to do everything...mechanical, body, upholstery, etc.

I grew up in the mountains of Northwest Georgia where my father had an auto salvage yard and used car lot...so my skills grew out of trying to get used cars ready to sell. I'm now trying to overcome all the bad habits I picked up doing that.

I intend to set up a shop as a retirement project. So far I have a Pullmax P7, a Monarch 10 EE lathe and assortment of hand and power tools. I took Fay Butler's metal shaping course last year and am trying to read everything I can on metal shaping. I'm looking for equipment to finish out my shop and appreciate any leads that I can get.

My passion is brass cars and 30's classics.

Hi Jack welcome to the forum
Peter

Thanks Peter. I have spent some time in Melbourne over the years...really a beautiful city.

jack

Jack,
Many experienced shapers will suggest you acquire skills before you acquire tools. I think it is good practice to acquire tools AS you acquire skills. I think an excellent way to acquire skills is to take classes. Near you north of Detroit is the great Ron Fournier who offers a very good introductory course. A more intensive series of classes if offered by Mark Gerisch in Green Bay. I've taken both and learned a lot from each.

Thanks Bill...I'll look into them.

jack

Hi Jack. I'm a newbie, so everything I say is probably crap...

I'd say it depends on how big your shop is and how deep your pockets are. You need to leave space to get some projects in and still have room to move stuff around. In New Zealand, it seems to be a lot like the UK and the primary shaping tool is a stump and a Wheel. Iv'e built quite a bit of my own gear and am gradually learning to use the stuff. A friend who is one of the local metalshaping gods and has grown up with a wheel, said of his wheel that 'if you stood next to it for 40 years, you might understand it'. I think practice and making scrap on a regular basis is a good way to learn. Courses and videos are great to set you on the right track, but I think with most of this stuff, having a go and finding out what doesn't work is the key to getting skilled. Having a go on a regular basis means that you need a machine to hand. Lots of help on here when it goes pear-shaped and a pear is not what you were aiming for.

After a wheel, and given that you have a Pullmax (envy!) I would think that a decent bead roller should be high on the list. I built one from Tom Verity's plans and am very pleased with it. http://allmetalshaping.com/showthrea...t=12894&page=2

I bought an ac/dc tig a couple of years back and admittedly in doing race car work (alloy body panels to come) I'm probably doing quite different stuff to you, but find that the tig torch is the weapon of choice for joining things. Just built a cooler for it and swapped the clunky 26 torch for a watercooled 20. Makes a heap of difference with a small torch. But I grew up with O/A, which a lot of guys prefer for sheetmetal work - and ali panels.

Big sheetmetal stuff like a finger brake and a shear are great if you have the space - 4' gear will handle most things. If space is tight, an electric shear, millions of clamps and a good bench can be a substitute.

Once you start it never ends:)

Thanks so much for the information and thanks for the link to the bead roller. That is truly impressive! I've done just a very little work on a wheel and some work on a Yoder power hammer...have lots more to learn.

jack

You are very welcome Jack and thanks for the feedback. Tom's basic design is very good on the BR. Given that you have a lathe, if you have a Mig or a stick welder, you could make one of these if you felt the urge. There wasn't that much milling involved and you could get away without it if need be. A wheel is really handy and 'old salts' like like Peter Tommasini use them in all sorts of unthinkable ways to create rebates, returns and do embossing.